A Manageable System for Managing Passwords

Tons of passwords are an unfortunate reality. I'm working hard every day to reduce the number of passwords that we have to use around the Web. Till it gets to a management number though, we need a way to cope. Everyone has a technique -- some put their passwords in a spreadsheet, others write them on post-its stuck to their computer screen, others use the same password(s) everywhere, some use a password manager in their browser. All of tese techniques have various security implications, however. We have to manage this chaos some how though, so the security issues are often disregarded. Is there a more secure way?

A better alternative would be one that doesn't require you to write anything down, isn't locked away in a computer that you don't have ready access to, and is unique per site and per account. One such technique is to create a set of steps, an algorithm, that you follow to create a unique password for every user account on every site that requires one. To do this, start by using something from the Web site that won't change, like the name; this is your "seed" value. For instance, your algorithm could be something like this:

Capitalize the first letter of the Web site's name and make the rest lowercase.

Take the first 4 characters of this name. If it is less than four characters, add underscores to make it at least four characters long.

Add some word that contains a symbol and a number and is easy to remember (e.g., [email protected]). The result is the password to use on the site.

The result is a strong passwords that while difficult to remember is easy to reproduce because the necessary steps are memorable. There's a problem w/ this though. If a baddie ever sees just two of your passwords, they'll have a very easy time guessing any of your others because they are so similar. So, here's an easy fix that makes things more secure

Download an app to your phone that can generate a password from an input phrase. This app should produce the same password every time it's given the same input. It should produce passwords that includes uppercase, lowercase, numbers, and symbols. This app should not have permission to access the Internet. Some of the free ones require it, so they can download ads. Who knows though? They might also be uploading your passwords. An example of a good one for Android is Password Generator Pro.

Now, when you have to sign up for a new account and create a password, use your algorithm as described above. However, don't use that as the password. Instead, use it as input to the app. This will produce a random password from a phrase that's hard to guess but associated to the site you're visiting. With the the site-specific "seed," the common algorithm, and an app that's running on your phone which generates strong passwords, you'll have a pretty easy system for managing the chaos where you don't have to write anything down, each password is unique, and they can't be guessed.

Make sure you don't let people know your algorithm though or all this security breaks down.

If you have a better way to manage this mess or if you think there are issues w/ this system, leave a comment here or drop me a line.

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Tons of passwords are an unfortunate reality. I'm working hard every day to reduce the number of passwords that we have to use around the Web. Till it gets to a management number though, we need a way to cope. Everyone has a technique -- some put their passwords in a spreadsheet, others write them on post-its stuck to their computer screen, others use the same password(s) everywhere, some use a password manager in their browser. All of tese techniques have various security implications, however. We have to manage this chaos some how though, so the security issues are often disregarded. Is there a more secure way?

\n\n

A better alternative would be one that doesn't require you to write anything down, isn't locked away in a computer that you don't have ready access to, and is unique per site and per account. One such technique is to create a set of steps, an algorithm, that you follow to create a unique password for every user account on every site that requires one. To do this, start by using something from the Web site that won't change, like the name; this is your \"seed\" value. For instance, your algorithm could be something like this:\n

\n

Capitalize the first letter of the Web site's name and make the rest lowercase.

\n

Take the first 4 characters of this name. If it is less than four characters, add underscores to make it at least four characters long.

\n

Add some word that contains a symbol and a number and is easy to remember (e.g., [email protected]). The result is the password to use on the site.

\n\n

\n\n

So, using this sample algorithm, the password for CNN would be this:\n

The result is a strong passwords that while difficult to remember is easy to reproduce because the necessary steps are memorable. There's a problem w/ this though. If a baddie ever sees just two of your passwords, they'll have a very easy time guessing any of your others because they are so similar. So, here's an easy fix that makes things more secure

\n\n

Download an app to your phone that can generate a password from an input phrase. This app should produce the same password every time it's given the same input. It should produce passwords that includes uppercase, lowercase, numbers, and symbols. This app should not have permission to access the Internet. Some of the free ones require it, so they can download ads. Who knows though? They might also be uploading your passwords. An example of a good one for Android is Password Generator Pro.

\n\n

Now, when you have to sign up for a new account and create a password, use your algorithm as described above. However, don't use that as the password. Instead, use it as input to the app. This will produce a random password from a phrase that's hard to guess but associated to the site you're visiting. With the the site-specific \"seed,\" the common algorithm, and an app that's running on your phone which generates strong passwords, you'll have a pretty easy system for managing the chaos where you don't have to write anything down, each password is unique, and they can't be guessed.

\n\n

Make sure you don't let people know your algorithm though or all this security breaks down.

\n\n

If you have a better way to manage this mess or if you think there are issues w/ this system, leave a comment here or drop me a line.